The Quiet American Philosophical Viewpoint: Quick-Fix Democracy Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #1

He didn't even hear what I said; he was absorbed already in the dilemmas of Democracy and the responsibilities of the West; he was determined – I learnt that very soon – to do good, not to any individual person but to a country, a continent, a world. Well, he was in his element now with a whole universe to improve. (1.1.81)

Fowler isn't against democracy per se. He's concerned with Pyle's determination to remake a world he doesn't understand based on abstract ideas that exist only in a book.

Quote #2

He never saw anything he hadn't heard in a lecture hall, and his writers and lecturers made a fool of him. When he saw a dead body he couldn't even see the wounds. A Red menace, a soldier of democracy. (1.2.2.87)

Pyle's like a child who thinks he appreciates the complexities of war, tyranny, and democracy because he's memorized every line from the Star Wars movies.

Quote #3

'I remember thinking before I went to sleep how convenient it would be if there were an attack and you were killed. A hero's death. For Democracy.'
'Don't laugh at me, Thomas.' (2.1.68-9)

This could have been a learning moment for Pyle. He rightly observes that Fowler is mocking him, but Pyle speaks just as tritely when he's being serious. Fowler hasn't exaggerated the rhetoric.